Take Me Away
by crazychocochica17
Summary: Isabella Swan was ran out of her town by childhood bullies. It wasn't a teasing or a meaningless prank she could get over, so what could it be? Well nearly dying could be the final straw for anyone, wouldn't it? Now she's trying to redeem it all.AllHuman
1. Chapter 1

**I do what I can and I do what I do, and none of those things were writing Twilight.**

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**Take Me Away**

I'm back.

The plane's gone, the next fight out of here is in 3 days (yes I checked), but other than that I was stuck between a rock and hard place. I sighed reassuring myself this was a good idea. It had to be a good idea. I hoped it was.

It wasn't that I didn't like Forks. The forest green though endless dragged beauty with it. The rain though surrounding gave that fresh smell of it the next day or once you got outside. If you were an outsider in the little town of Forks, the endless green and surrounding rain would mock you day in and day out except if you lived in a place that had the same problem. In the continental U.S.A, I have yet to see a place as wet as Forks, Washington.

I've lived in Forks most of my life from the day of my birth to the age of thirteen. I'll just leave that for now. More of that tale is for another time, place, and preferably a setting not close to others. Dramatic, yes, but blame my mom for that.

I sat on my suitcase waiting for my dad, Charlie, to come pick me up. He was late but he sent me a text (I won't even ask how he figured that out.) before when we were in a clear zone to use our cell phones that he might be a little late. I was ok with him being late, but I was worried. What could possibly be happening in Forks that was serious? Forks was one of those small towns that you look down at a map and wonder if it was there the last time you looked at it. Gossip traveled faster than the flu and life was nothing as simple as could be. Well at least our connotation of it. You couldn't go a day without knowing who was pregnant and whose dating who and who that same who was cheating on.

Can you tell I have a good experience with gossip?

I sighed putting my head in my hand listening to the cold truth the band that blasted through my ear bubs sang. Sitting on one of my suitcases, I shut my eyes just to rest them since I barely got any sleep last night. My mom said it wasn't good for my sleeping patterns to stay up late, but I couldn't help it. This day made me anxious and the closer it came, the more reluctant I was to come.

My mom: another person on my list of reasons not to go. My mom, Renee, wasn't the most responsible person, but she was the best mom a girl could ask for. She was never the mom that when I got a bad grade she would act like it's the end of the world, but she didn't tolerate it either. She would encourage me to try new things that she never got to do when she was my age. Hobbies never really stuck to her well changing one after another. She wasn't a commitment person. I've know that all my life.

Imagine my surprise when she says she's getting married. Again.

My dad and she got a divorce when I was 2 but finalized it when I was three. They were having problems already, so it didn't surprise many. My dad was a little hurt, but respected her decision and the divorce was not a messy one. The only problems they had involved me and who I was going to live with. Instead of mud-slinging at each other, they let me decide. My mom had no hard feelings on my choosing my dad since I was going to see her over breaks.

There wasn't any animosity after words; they were civil and nice towards each other. Even though we were not a family anymore, they made sure that I still got the family feel. Turns out that were better off as friends then married since they stopped fighting and actually got along.

"It was like the old days," my mom told me once, "without the pressures of marriage, we were just like we are now."

I gave up hope thinking they would get back together. If they were happy, then so was I.

Anyways, switch to Phil.

Phil was 4 years my mom's junior with a dream of becoming a professional baseball player. He was good for a rookie and he was signed on the Florida Marlins 6 months before. My mother was excited for him and I was too, but I didn't want to move to Florida. (Too sunny for my taste if you ask me) So, I decided to take spent some time with my dad until I graduated high school. My mom told me over and over again how I didn't have to do it.

But I knew I had to.

I have some demons in the quiet town of Forks and even though part of the reason for me going is to see my dad, the other part is to face them and when I leave for college, I don't have a cloud of what if's trailing above my head.

As I was daydreaming, a light tap came to my shoulders startling me back to reality. I quickly looked up at the person to see a warm smile and mischievous eyes.

"Seth!" I got up just as fast as he opened his arms and gave him a hug.

Seth was one of Sue's kids. Sue was Charlie's girlfriend for that last 2 years and Seth was her youngest from her earlier marriage. Seth's father, Harry, died from a heart attack when he was out fishing with another family friend, Billy Black. He died on the way to the hospital and Sue just crumbled. Thankfully, Charlie was there to help with all the arrangements and with all the difficulties that came with not having Harry around.

Soon enough, they started going out (very weird using that phrase with my father.) and they couldn't be happier. Seth has known Charlie since he was a toddler, so there was no awkwardness when it came to him. The only problem was Sue's eldest daughter, Leah, but that for another time.

Seth was 2 years younger than me, but was one foot taller than me, so he picked me up off the ground and held me tight against him. Seth had dark rich skin with black hair that he kept spiked with a smile on at all times. He was huge, but he wasn't overkilling the steroids though.

"Bella, I've missed you so much! If you plan to fall off the face of the earth, could you let me know in advance?" I rolled my eyes and told him to put me down. He laughed at me while he did and helped me with my luggage. I still kept in touch with my people in Forks; Seth was just being the overzealous dram queen he was destined to be.

"So, what's new with you Seth? Any girlfriends I should know about?" Seth gave me a look, but he had a smile on his face to show it wasn't a touchy subject.

"Please to do think a mere woman could tame this?" I raised my brows at him.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" I smirked at the look on his face as we got to the car. Wait, Charlie was supposed to pick me up. I started to panick about the many possibilities that could happen as I whipped around to Seth.

"Why didn't Charlie pick me up? Is he alright?" My dad would be dedicated to a case even it was a small one. I didn't get my stubbornness from my mother I can tell you that. Seth could see I was freaking out and held my shoulders with his hands that are probably bigger then my face.

"Bells, he's fine. He just didn't want to leave you at the airport bored, so he called me up to come get you." I relaxed and smile sheepishly at him. A year ago we had a scare with Charlie helping out some policemen in Seattle with a man that was raping and killing women. He didn't have any shame in killing the policemen that got in his way either. We were all a mess and Sue nearly fainted when he was admitted to the hospital.

I was Arizona when it happened, so I was calling like a crazy person to find out what the hell happened to my dad, but it was ok. He was nearly shot, but jumped out of the way in time. It grazed his shoulder though, so he had to get that cleaned up. It was torture waiting in the place-where-you-put-people-so-that-there-are-witnesses-when-they-try-to-kill-for-information-room. They really should shorten the name.

"I know Seth but after last year, I don't know what to think anymore." He smiled knowingly and got into the driver's side of the car. I crossed my arms and stared him down through the window.

"Do you have a license, sir?" Seth waved the plastic card in from of my face and told me to get in. There was no way on this gas loving earth was I getting in the car with an unlicensed person regardless of family. Something had to stick when Charlie was raising me! That and he couldn't cook for his life.

I sighed (I seemed to be doing that a lot recently.) and got into the car and we drove in silence with the radio up. Seth was a hip/hop and rap guy and there wasn't a song he didn't know the lyrics to, so the silence wasn't really silence.

We past the scenery of tress, trees, trees, but we were close to the reservation to where the whole gang lived. There were two high schools in the town of Forks, La Push High and Forks High. The kids that lived on the reservation went to La Push High and the ones that didn't usually went to Forks High. The schools were closely knitted together especially the students.

I looked at the house as we pulled up with alert. The house was quiet, too quiet actually. You could usually hear the game on or Sue talking on the phone or Seth's friends raiding snacks in the fridge.

I turned back around to Seth to see him look sheepishly at me. I narrowed my eyes at him, What was he hiding from me and why is it so bad that he couldn't just tell me in advance?

"Seth," I warned as calmly as my voice could carry, "what the hell is going on?" He winced slightly. I breathed through my noses thinking it was probably something like a welcoming party lead by my stepmother. Since I was eight, I could sniff out a party faster than drugs to a crack hound. I decided to give Sur a little credit. She knew how I despised parties with an undying hatred. It couldn't be that bad, right?

I stepped out of the car and walked slowly up to the house eyeing it with suspicion. What kind of utter doom was I walking into? Balloons, cake, and that wasn't even the worst part. The annoying "my have you grown!" and "oh, you are too gorgeous."

Well, if I was going into hell, I might as well have some awesome theme music. That is the Swan way of course.

Seth opened the door slowly and flicked on the lights and everyone jumped out.

"SURPRISE! WELCOME HOME BELLA!"

Kill me now. No seriously get a knife, come back, and kill me with it. No you know what get a gun that way it quick and I don't see it coming. A sigh came for the twenty-seventh time today as Sue made her way to me and hugged the life out of me. Even though she wasn't my biological mom, she was a close second in my book. I owned her my life for taking care of Charlie while I was away and I've never seen him happier then when he is with Sue.

"Bella! Goodness you look amazing! I've going to have to have the boys keep a sharp eye out for you." Sue winked playfully. Another thing that makes Charlie and Sue compatible is the fact that they were both very overprotective of me. It got overbearing sometimes, but it was understandable. But I was stronger than I was back then. At least I hope so.

Seth snickered behind his mother's back and I gave him the stink eye in return for not warning me in advance. He shrugged his shoulders and high fived a friend that was next to him leaving me with the bottomless questions that Sue had for me.

She lead me over to the dining room where everyone was mingling and conversing about the past events of (you guessed it) me.

I tried to listen to Sue talk about anything and everything while I was gone, but a conversation struck me still and frozen.

"Wow, Bella looks really different form when we were in junior high."

"I know right! Wait, why did she move again?"

"Chris, sometimes I worry about you. Remember how Edward, Tanya, and their friends picked on her a lot?"

"Of course, everyone knew that."

"Well apparently something big happened between them that made Bella move."

"Really, well what was it?"

"No one knows but that's why they don't come to La Push that much. Bella was like their sister or something."

"Oh my god."

"What, what's wrong?"

"I asked Edward before if he was coming to the party with Tanya and them."

"Seriously? What did he say? Does he know it's for Bella?"

"He said he'd be here that he couldn't miss a good party, but I don't think he knows it's for Bella."

"Oh crap! Well that'll be interesting."

He was coming. With the rest of them. Sue must have known I stopped listening to her and caught the last of the conversation because she looked ready to kill. I could hear her yelling for the boys to guard the door.

"Hello everyone."

They were too late so it seemed. The gang was here. I didn't need to turn around to see who it was. The voice I've heard every day of my young life that haunted me for years was by the door with the rest of them.

Nowhere to turn, nowhere to hide. My fist clenched as I tried to block them out, to repress the memories like I've done for the last 5 years.

I'm back . . . but with a price.

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**Show me love, people and leave me a review. Constructive criticism is like a heart attack. It's important and if you don't take it seriously and fix what needs fixing, you're dead.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I do what I can and I do what I do, and none of those things were writing Twilight.**

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**Chapter 2: Repressing: Failed**

It was a nightmare. My nightmare: the never ending one. I was numb, but not like the statue I would usually become when they were around. My brain was flight at the time being as I frantically looked all over for an exit to make my escape.

Sue was another story. Her brain must have been on fight because she as making her way towards them with two boys from La Push, Embry and Quil. They were nice boys and Quil had a little crush on me when we were younger and he still had a sweet spot for me.

"Carlisle, Esme." My eyes widened at her tone. She was peeved and it wasn't the peeved where you got nicked behind the ear. It was kind of like sending Superman kryptonite brownies on his birthday and laughing while watching him struggle on the last strings of his life. Brownie, anyone?

"Sue, it's nice to see you! Please excuse our late arrival; we had to pick up everyone on the way here and some of us were a little slow to the car." Esme Cullen: How to describe such a woman.

She was a beautiful woman with her caramel colored hair, her warm and inviting eyes, and a serene smile: ready to turn on with a strain of a muscle, and a natural glow to her. I'd often question, before it happened, about the outcome of her son and daughter since they were not the nicest people when their parents are not around and Esme was like the perfect person; I hadn't really seen much sympathy and Esme was the first, so I thought she was some type of angel. Unfortunately that changed once it happened. Again, I couldn't deal with all my issues now.

Sue gave her a forced smile and I quietly made my way to the kitchen leading out to the hallway where they stood. Embry shifted his eyes to me in the kitchen and I held a finger to my mouth to signal for him to be quiet. He gave short nod looking stiff and trying not to put too much attention to him. Embry was the quiet one of the bunch, respectful to others, and is the kind of person that will hear you rant for hours on end. He was a good guy, but terribly shy.

"Yes, well I'm afraid that some of your . . . guests . . . are not well come here." You could almost feel the disappointment coming from Esme.

"I invited them mom. You said I could bring guests, right?" I should've seen that coming. Sue flashed danger to Leah advising her to keep her mouth shut. Leah knew when to push her buttons and when to duck for cover. She got the message loud and clear.

"And, I'm sure she would like to see us after all these years." Esme said hopefully. I sunk to the floor and started to breathe slowly closing my eyes. She didn't know about them: how they really were. I didn't know if she finally got her head out of the clouds and got reality smacked into her face about how her "angels" acted when the curtains went down. All this time, I've tried to convince that I was ready for what was on the other side of this wall. Now that it was staring me in the face, I couldn't handle it!

After a few minutes, a realization struck me as I looked at the pattern of the newly done floors. What if I am never ready? I'd known I'd see them here. Forks isn't that big of a place. I'd see them around school if they went to Forks High. All my life I've been afraid of seeing them, around a corner sometimes they would be waiting for me, or I'd just bump into one of them by accident, and I was still afraid.

Most people would have thought it would be a great plan to do revenge, to get back at all they did to me. I didn't want to humiliate them, tease them, or want anything to do with them. I'm not wasting my energy and time just for them and worst of all I'd be just as equal to them and that is the scariest thing I could think of. Well, at the moment of course.

I'm stronger then I was when I was a thirteen year old girl with as much insecurity as you could count on your toes and fingers. Those people out there have no idea what I'm like now. I would bet anything to say that they just found another play toy in a matter of days. That chapter is over and I'm ready to start a new one.

I took a deep breath and got up from my seat on the floor and looked towards the entrance to the hallway. It's now or . . . well, not ever I guess. Again the town is not that big. Stepping out of the kitchen, I patted my hat down (natural reaction) and looked down to my feet thinking my brain is on auto pilot.

I didn't look any different from when I did when I was thirteen. My hair was a little bit longer, mom took me to a dermatologist to clear up the acne, I was a little taller, but those are natural. Nothing changed. One side of me was staying how stupid I was to do this that I should avoid them as best as I could. The other side was telling me how if I didn't I would always have that what if in life and plus it was better to do it here than in the hallway of school with no protection.

I couldn't even deliberate anymore. A little ray of sunshine chose for me.

Sarah came out from the other exit to the hallway and looking around for something.

Sarah was one of the Quileute elder's daughter and I use to babysit her any chance I got to when they held the weekly tribal meeting. It came to a point where they would only call me because Sarah would not let anyone else babysits her. Her skin was the trademark russet color with swimming brown eyes, and curls that framed her face lovingly.

Strangely, her face wasn't in its usual smile today, but it brightened up quickly once she saw Sue and the boys. She made her way towards them, a little shy because she has never met the people at the door before.

"Auntie Sue, where's big sister?" It broke my heart to hear her call me that again. If there was one thing I regretted leaving Forks, it was leaving my loved ones behind and Sarah was one of them. Sue looked down at her kindly as she was still searching her eyes over the rooms and at one point going in between Quil's legs since she couldn't see over him.

I smiled at her curiosity and her easily made frustration. She was only one when I left and now that she's five, she didn't change a bit. I leaned on the door entrance and watched her with adoring eyes. Sue advert her eyes from her to me, but they were concerned and questioning. Quil and Embry didn't seem to like that I got out of the kitchen leaving me easy to spot. The people in the rest of the house couldn't hear us over the music and the noise.

_Are you sure about this? _I smiled tightly and nodded at her. Her eyes held determination and smiled with triumph on the quirks of her mouth. Showtime I guess. Let's hope I don't get the stick.

I walked out towards keeping my eyes only on Sarah. I heard a gasp of surprise, but it was low, so I'm not sure if anyone heard other than me. Sarah looked at me curiously for a second, and I was afraid she didn't recognize me. Realization came on her face as she squealed and latched on to my leg and hung on for dear life.

"Big sister, I missed you so much while you were away! Mommy said you were staying now, but to keep quiet. Is it true?" She was whispering in my ear at this point and I laughed at her oh-so-serious face forgetting for a moment whose was in front of me.

I hugged her to my chest reassuring her of this. "Yeah, Sarah-bear I'm staying. Think you could stand having me around all the time?" Sue and the boys laughed at her eager response and she hugged me tighter talking a mile a minute about the things we could do.

Right now my focus was on them. I could never look anyone of them in the eye before, but I felt a sudden surge of confidence. I picked Sarah off the ground and she obliged resting her head on my shoulder. I looked Esme in her eyes as she smiled kindly, sadly at me. I was going to be civil with her, but it didn't mean I forgave her. I know it's stupid to hold a grudge after what four years? I wanted nothing to do with them, they probably the same, but too much went down for me to just forgive and forget.

I gave her a wry smile. "Hello, Ms. Cullen." She winced softly at the formality of my statement, but recovered quickly. She returned my smile but with more anxiety then warmth. I remember that smile. It was distant but still fresh.

"_Officer, that's impossible! They were just talking to Bella before she went berserk and scared them away. They had nothing to do with this." _

"_Are you sure about this Miss Cullen?"_

"_Yes, of course! My daughter came home crying about Bella and what she did! She's unstable!"_

Nothing to do with it: Right. She knew what happened that day, but she just couldn't believe that of her perfect children could ever do something that heinous.

Sue clutched my hand and gave Esme a cold stare. Memories could get you killed in this house.

"Bella, you . . . you look well." I bet I looked better then the last time she saw me. I swallowed the lump in my throat and blinked back forever nightmares. If anything, she was one of the last people outside of my family to see me before it happen.

Carlisle looked down less brave then his wife in facing me reminiscing as I was in his treachery.

"_Did you find any problems with her?"_

"_Um . . . no she's a little banged up, but nothing serious to take into consideration."_

"_She doesn't sound she's a little banged up."_

"_. . . Look . . . My kids mostly likely didn't do anything, and they are good kids and it was probably an accident. Tanya was always talking about how Bella was jealous of them and she tried to get them in trouble in class. Maybe this is another trick that Bella made up to get my kids and their friends in trouble."_

" _. . . I'll look into it."_

He knew I heard the whole thing from behind that door. As he was fixing me up, he could never look me in the eye. He honestly believes that I was the mastermind behind this whole thing.

As if I wanted to kill myself.

And then I saw them. After five years of repressed memories, it came rushing back like the aftershock of a horrid earthquake. Each face contributed, none less than the other, but if possible more than the rest. It was like a race. Whoever could be the meanest to Bella Swan and made her cry wins.

First was Mary Alice Brandon Cullen. Adopted by the Cullens with her twin brother when she was a toddler, she had everything on a gold platter. Nothing was too expensive only something was under pay. Carlisle was a doctor, and before a trust fund baby to a grandfather tycoon in the upper east side of New York. Esme wasn't that much better. Her father and mother left everything to her when they died including a big amount of cash considering she was their only child. She was also a fashion designer having designs in the biggest places this world knows.

With her past life a blank, all she knew was money equaled status and I and the two didn't match. My family was living on a kindergarten teacher's salary and a police officer's one as well. We didn't have much, but we would rather have something with love then everything without it. Every day she would mock me for clothes, and she was subtle in her attributes to my style. She thought if you were not with the times, you are a crime to society.

One thing I didn't get was that everyone else basically dressed the same. I wasn't as well off as her, but I wasn't as different then the kids in our class at that time.

She always came to school with Prada purses and Gucci gems strutting down the hallway like she knew what it was she all about. Her criticizing my style didn't bother me much. I may have been a kid, but I wasn't that much of a crybaby. Sometimes when she would start, I would walk away before she even got to finish. What did it matter what she thought of me? Ok, you made your opinion known, you have the right to free speech and I respect that.

It didn't mean I had to listen.

With her patience running thin already with me, her anger for me escalated one day. It was just after recess and we were coming down to the classroom getting ready to leave the room. I was talking to one of my friends, Angela about what we were going to do this weekend at one of Seattle's parks. A shriek interrupted us coming from the back room. Alice didn't want her stuff to touch the poor people things, so she made the teacher lock her purse in his back room. When she came back, it was gone and guess who the number one suspect for this terrible crime was? (Are you guys psychic?)

Long story short, she's hated me ever since. Well, more than usual.

Alice grew from the last time I saw her. Not by much, but she still grew. She had shorter hair with was in spikes surrounding her face, naturally her baby fat was gone giving her a sharper face, and she looked as if she grew a couple inches taller.

When we younger, she would never back down from commenting on every aspect of what I was wearing. Staring me straight in the eye with a mocking gleam in her eye, sometimes she would say how much that it killed her eyes to see me and look at me every day.

Now she wasn't as confident.

Her eyes were just like her father's down on the floor admiring the carpet. Fiddling with the hem of her dress, I could tell this was awkward for her; I didn't expect that kind of reaction.

I shifted my gaze to the man next Alice holding her hand. His eyes were wide with surprise still and he tensed as my eyes meet mine.

Jasper Harrison Hale was one of the blond twins of the Hales. Their parents were always out with something, but they checked in with the other to make sure they had the other watching and spending time with the kids. The Hales came in 7th Grade and became fast friends with the Cullens, McCarthys, and the La Push version; Jasper was a little slow in that process. I made friends with him when he first came, and we just stuck by that until the following summer. We were near the end of summer and Jasper asked me to be his girlfriend.

I liked Jasper a lot, but not in that sense. He got angry with me saying that all this time he thought I was different, but now he saw through me. Jasper started to accused me of leading him on and calling me stuff like a tease and just talked to him because of his connections with the group.

"_I know that you have problems with them Bella, but that's so pathetic!"_

"_Jasper, I'm not using you to get to anyone! You're my best friend!"_

"_Tell it to someone who cares, Bella."_

Soon enough, he starting dating Alice and quickly got the gist of their dislike for me. He mocked me for everything I told him like secrets that I trusted him with. At the time, I didn't have that many secrets, but I didn't really confide in anyone about them. It still hurt to have made a friend like Jasper, get as close to him as I got, and then have it all amount to nothing.

After that, Alice must have known something went down between us or he told her about the situation and this fueled her dislike for me, so that happened in addition to that. It wasn't like she was so chipper to make amends before, but regardless.

He recovered from the shock and Alice winced slightly. He would always clench his fingers if a problem or something bothered him, but I didn't know if that was the reason or if he still did it. He smiled kindly at me like I was an old friend come back from a long vacation. I raised an eyebrow at him at him in disbelief while keeping my face smooth. His smile faltered, but remained intact.

These were the ones that I understood their dislike for me more than the others. The others were a little a more complicated then I could comprehend at that time. I fixated my gaze on the door behind them in the crevice Jasper and Emmett provided to make it seem like I was looking at him.

"Alice . . . Jasper . . . Emmett . . . Rosalie . . . Tanya . . . Jacob . . . Leah . . . . . Edward," they all looked startled by my direct address to them all except for Edward. He looked in my direction without actually _looking _at me. A smile made its way to their faces giving nothing away.

They had years of practice.


	3. Chapter 3

**I do what I can and I do what I do, and none of those things were writing Twilight.**

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**Chapter 3: A Party Etched**

Sue gave a smile back with the same ice as she gave Esme. Most of them avoid looking at her in fear of being turned into stone. Mama bear don't play.

Sarah was still clutched to my chest as I subconsciously rocked her back and forth. I could feel her getting heavier as she started to fall asleep on my shoulder. I smiled affectionately at her as she reminded me of the other reasons I came here. They were not going to rule over my life like they did when we were kids. This time I called the shots.

I had an epiphany of sorts as I stared at Sarah for a moment as Sue was taking care of their coats. Her dislike of them was well known, but she in hostess mode right now. My main goal these last two years would be graduating high school, worrying about colleges, and spending as much time away from the drama life brought me in this little town and closer to the people that are implanted in my heart. The only way I was going to get closure was to take this in steps. I've survived the first meeting, but the next was handling it by myself without the guys or Sue there. As terrifying as it sounds, I think I can handle it.

"You wanna go to sleep, Sarah-pop?" She shook her head no and whined, but her body was telling her to stay on the makeshift pillow. I snickered quietly and forgot I had an audience when I looked up to tell Sue I was going to take her up stairs.

Esme looked at me with pain in her eyes, but smiled anyways when I looked up and it faltered when I didn't smile back. Carlisle's eyes looked at mine begging with forgiveness. From my many trips to the hospital, Carlisle was the type of person to blame everything on him even when it was logically not. It wasn't fully his fault, but he did take some part in it and it must be eating him alive. I bit my tongue from having a major outburst at all of them and very close to breakdown.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, but I didn't need to that much. The reaction on the faces of the rest of them was too hilarious not to let one little giggle slip. Embry and Quil wasn't that much better.

When I was younger, I never showed much sympathy towards anyone or anything soft-hearted in public. I was a bitter little smart-mouth to put it lightly and after an encounter with one or more of the Cullens, my patience and sanity were at an all time low.

I was even worst when I came home from school and the piled up mocking, teasing, and harassing me would leave me a cranky crying mess.

The public show of affection was far from my warmth back then. They looked shocked and tried to cover it as best as they could, but it was a lost cause. They already showed the sign of weakness.

I turned towards Sue blocking her view from the Cullens before she literally burned holes into their heads and indirectly saved them as well. Sue was never the type of person to not let her views be know, so she showed it depending on the situation. By the squirming and the nervous glances, she was doing what she does best: protecting what's hers.

"Sue, I'm going to take Sarah upstairs to put her down," Sue nodded not taking her eyes off them.

I passed Quil and Embry kissing them both in thanks and they let a smile creep up on their oh so serious faces. I was surprised Quil managed this long to be quiet. I walked tried to go up the stairs, but was pulled in to the many greetings, hellos, and old faces. Most people stopped to compliment me on something, telling me they're glad to have me back, or just wanted to see what I was up to. Surprisingly enough, I was having fun. Everyone caught me up with what was happening in the little territory that is La Push and the embarrassing stories that happened when I was there never stopped and sometimes I even laughed at the things I didn't remember.

Most of them saw the wonderful "conversation" that happened at the front door, but they never brought it up which I was very grateful for.

I didn't even see them pass me on the way to who knows where since if they saw one of them then they would move the conversation over to another place or slyly start to walk in the other direction. You gotta love family, right?

After an hour of mingling and catching up, my arms were getting tired of carrying Sarah up, down, and all around the house. The music and chatter in the living room deafened all other sounds from reaching anyone, so as the music got louder, the talking got louder as well. Finally finding a room, I opened the door without even knocking.

Bad idea.

With enough awkwardness to kill an elephant, I stood in the doorway wide eyed at the group in front of me. Alice was on the bed in Jasper's lap both looking at the doorway with startled expressions, Emmett was in the lounge chair with Rose on the arm of the chair smiling weakly at me and Rose didn't look in my direction, but I saw her tense up. Leah was sitting on the floor with her legs out with one bent. She glared at me immediately and held her head high. Jake was on the bed with his elbows on his knees taking glances at me, but never straight in the eyes. Tanya was on the floor with wringing her fingers nervously looking from Edward to me and back with her legs Indian-style.

I hesitated before looking at Edward. He was leaning against the wall next to Tanya not looking at me at all. Not a glance, not a stare, not a glare, no acknowledgement at all that I came. It was dead silent in the room. Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Leah were the only ones that we bluntly looking at me and to say it wasn't a little unnerving would a lie if I were telling the truth.

I cleared my throat a little and chuckled as confident as I felt.

"Um, sorry I'll find another room." I waved lightly, but Leah got up as quick I was about to close the door.

"Its fine we were just leaving anyways." She walked out of the room shoving me lightly on her way out. The rest looked at each other quickly before following Leah. I made a path as best I could with the little space provided. Each one filed out of the room ineptly and I kept my face down and played with Sarah's hair for a minute. I sighed in relief and stepped into the room and put Sarah down for a nap. I tucked her in and she fell asleep straight away.

"You're good with her." I screamed frightened by the person who nearly scared me half to death. I rolled my eyes as I held my hand to my heart to calm it down.

"Seth I swear if that's you I'm gonna," I stopped short as I turned to see Edward looking at Sarah. Did he ever move? Did he even get out of the room?

"I came back to get my jacket." He nodded to the jacket on the back of the chair like he could tell I was wondering why he was here. I turned back to Sarah and nodded in acknowledgement. He walked slowly over to the chair and stopped. I didn't hear footsteps leave the room, so he must have not left. There was no way I was leaving Sarah alone with Edward in the room. I wasn't going to take my chances.

"Something bothering you?" I said indifferently. Why was he still here? He got his jacket now he could leave. The door was right there.

Edward chuckled dryly and moved a little closer to me.

"No, I think we're about to leave. It's little awkward right now with everyone staring at us."

"Funny, I always thought you liked attention." He was silent for a minute or two before I turned my head to the side to see if he left or was just standing there like a statue.

"Edward if you don't mind, I would rather you be out of this room before I leave. You did say you were going to leave. Tanya must be worried sick. It's rude to keep someone waiting." A spark of confidence crept up in my voice. I turned around and stared him down. 'He's just a person,' I thought, 'there's nothing he could do that I can't do back.'

He looked at me questioningly. Edward took a step near me excepting me to at least flinch at a single movement. He came so close that I could hear him breathing.

"Watch yourself, Swan. We were kids back then and you weren't that hurt anyways. You overreacted by leaving. Do you know how much guilt you put on us? We're still working off the punishment. If anything, you owe us an apology." I scoffed and wanted to retorted, but the dam was already broken.

"We never did anything completely horrible to you! A few mocking statements, sure, but we were kids and blaming what happened on Tanya and the others wasn't fair. Do you even know what you caused? Alice got her credit cards taken away for three years, Rose can barely look her parents in the eye, Emmett was banned from sports, Jasper got sent to freaking _military_ school. Leah is never on the rez anymore because of this. Tanya had to beg and pled her parents to let her stay in Forks!" Edward was breathing hard letting out all his anger.

"And now you come back and have the nerve to look us in the faces like nothing you did cause it? I knew you had problems Isabella, but next time, keep them to yourself."I couldn't believe him! Was he seriously blaming all his problems on me? I didn't even get a word in. He stomped out of the room and slammed the door on his way out.

I dragged in a staggered breath and took a look down to Sarah. She woke up sometime in between his rant and looked a little scared, but more concern was in her eyes.

I sat next to her on the bed and laid her down facing her. She looked like she was pondering something important and she didn't seem to like what she was thinking.

I didn't speak. I didn't explain to her that everything was fine and she had nothing to worry about. Eventually, she would fall asleep and then forget about it.

Unfortunately, I had no hope for myself.

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The party ended shortly after the Cullens left. It was getting close to one o'clock and everyone was partied out for the time being.

I was staying at Charlie's old house while he was getting moved into the house with Sue. I didn't want to overcrowd the house, but more importantly Leah still lived there. Surprising right? It wasn't like she was seen there a lot. She left early in the morning before everyone else woke up and came home late when everyone is asleep. Sue stopped trying to control her. Leah wasn't the type of person to be pushed into anything and was almost as stubborn as I was.

Even when we were younger, the relationship was strained. Sue was always over the house helping my dad take care of me. Charlie was a patience man, but he could never understand woman especially his daughter. That was a curse and a blessing in itself. Sue was kind of like the mother figure while I lived in Forks, and with her came a package deal: her kids.

Seth was a little shy at first, but once he got to know that not all girls have cooties, he was perfectly fine and the connection was natural. Leah was a little difficult with the process. I didn't know what I did to offend her, so for the first two years of knowing Sue, we were just people who were stuck with each other.

I remember our first conversation clear as day, but I'm not talking about the little hi you say to a person and then never speak to them for the rest of the time they are there. I'm talking about a longer than 1 minute conversation with a person that doesn't' involve only you talking.

"Hi, Leah."

" . . . Is my mom ready to go?"

"Um, no."

"Is Seth bothering you?"

"No! I, ah, just want to talk you."

" . . . About?"

"Nothing, anything, what's on your mind?"

" . . . Not much really."

"Oh . . . that's nice."

" . . . I'm going get something to drink."

"Ok."

And that was that. Leah made friends with Tanya at a park in Port Angeles and the rest is history. She automatically disliked me and I had more to deal with. No conversation gone badly, no friendship made that was destroyed, nothing. She hated me because Tanya hated me. If there was any more to the story, then it's one-sided because to this day I'm still trying to decipher Leah.

Seth pulled up to the house and made an announcement of it to the entire forest.

"Home sweet home, is it not Bells?" I punched him in the shoulder. Looking around to see if my neighborhoods were looking out their windows to see what lunatic was screaming at one o'clock in the morning.

"You might want to keep it down, Seth." I walked to the house with Seth in tow behind me. It wasn't hard to tell. The guy was well over my height, so his shadow dominated mine.

"And why is that my Jelly-Belly?" He poked my stomach making me squeal and glare at him when he laughed and skipped ahead of me to open the door.

"I wouldn't want the animals to be traumatized. Really Seth, haven't they been suffered enough from smelling you, you actually want them to see you?" I shook my head in mock sadness. Seth looked down at my frame and glared playfully at me trying to look stern.

"Bella, sweet Bella you are right," he posed with his foot on the wall leaning on it looking in the other direction, "it's a crime to be this beautiful is it not? They would never tear their eyes away from me. And well," he looked at me cockily, "I'm just too sexy for myself."

I laughed at him as he pouted. What did he expect me to do? Fall to the ground and look at him with adoration at the oh-so-true words he said to me? I tried to compose myself as best as I could and reduced to giggling.

Seth pouted at me and walked past me mumbling something along lines of meanie. I rolled my eyes. Baby. We took my luggage in and Seth left after we finished giving me a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Bella," he whispered into my ear, "remember you always have a place in La Push and if . . . they ever bother you, promise me you'll tell one of us, mom, me, the pack, anyone. You're always safe there." I smiled softly at Seth and nodded against his shoulder. La Push, to me, was always safe; it was my home away from home: family and place alike.

"I know, Seth and I promise I'll tell someone about them if anything upsets me." A pang in my head reminded me that what I promised was the opposite of what I wanted to do. I didn't want them to worry about me like they did when I was younger. I have to admit by just keeping it bottled up and not talking to anyone just made me a bitter mess and fueled them even more. I would tell them about what happened, but I would refuse them to do something about it unless it was serious.

I waved to Seth as he drove out of the driveway then turned towards the house with a sigh. There were a little scatter of boxes with Charlie's things, but the left the furniture and the TV, so I wouldn't get bored. I looked in my bag for my IPod and found out at the very bottom of it.

I plugged it into my ears and danced to some R&B. I should probably look in the fridge to see what damage control I needed to do. I didn't feel as tired as I should have been as I checked all of the food in the fridge to see if it was edible. Most of it still was, but I had to throw some of the fish out. Charlie was an avid fisher and still is. He went the lake in La Push with Billy at any free time he got and he took me with him sometimes.

Billy was Charlie's best friends since they were in high school and went through everything with him. He was there when my mom was pregnant with me, when they got married, as I grew up, when my dad and mom divorced, and he practically helped raise me. Billy had two daughters and one son with his wife, Cynthia. His daughters were the older ones, one at college and the other married in another state. Cynthia died in a car accident shortly after his son's birth and he was heartbroken. We came and helped get back on his feet. That isn't even the worst part.

Jacob Black was his son.

I shook my head at the absurd thing of them being related. Billy was a kind old man and Jake just . . . wasn't.

Last time I heard of Billy he got into an accident painting the house and was paralyzed to a wheelchair. I wondered how he was doing now.

I decided to go to bed since I had to go to the store in the morning to get some food for the fridge and get whatever else I needed. Charlie faxed over my school supplies list while I was in Phoenix, so my mom and I have those already. While making a list for the grocery store, I realized something. Where was Charlie during all of this? He wasn't at the party and Sue didn't say anything about him.

I picked up the phone and dialed the police station and waited a few minutes before I got his deputy, Chris.

"Forks Police Station, how can we help you?" Always the formal one.

"Hey Chris, it is Bella. Is Charlie still there? He isn't at the house."

"Oh, Bella! How ya doing, kiddo? You just missed him. We just wrapped up a bust we've helped Port Angeles with, so he couldn't make it to the party."

"I'm fine, Chris and thanks for telling me. Do you know where he is now?" The police station wasn't far from where we lived, so it didn't make any sense.

"Um, he said he was going to make a pit stop before coming home." I sighed in relief. So he was intentionally making me worry. I rolled my eyes. He at least should have called.

"Do you know if he has his cell phone on him?"

"I think so," he chuckled lightly, "first time I didn't have remind him to do so." I smiled and chuckled with him. Charlie liked to keep his hands free at all time in case of an emergency. He got use to emergencies as I grew up.

I thanked him again and hung up to try and reach Charlie. Picking at my nails as I heard the dial tone ring, Charlie finally picked up after the second ring.

"Hello?" I screwed my eyebrows together. His voice sounded gruffer then it usually was like he was interviewing someone for a heinous crime. I leaned across the table in the kitchen. If he wasn't at the station, then why would he be interviewing someone?

"Hey, Dad, I'm at the house and I was wondering when you were coming home?"

"Oh, Bella! Sorry, I just had to take care of something before going home. I'll be there shortly." He couldn't be that far away from home.

"How close are you to the house? What are you doing anyways?" Even if it was some classified police stuff, he would give me something brief to know he wasn't doing something dangerous.

"Now, you don't go and worry about that. I'll be home soon, I promise." He hung up before I could question him even more. I had a bad feeling in the pit of stomach about my father's whereabouts.

Maybe I should stay up a little bit longer. Just to make sure he was getting in safe.


	4. Chapter 4

**I do what I can and I do what I do, and none of those things were writing Twilight.**

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**Chapter 4: A Father's Love**

Charlie's POV

She was coming back today.

My daughter, my only child, was coming to live with me again after she left when she was thirteen.

I was caught up at the police station wrapping up a case in Seattle: A rapist with a fetish of eighteen year old girls. It seems he tracked them down stalking them until he found out when exactly their birthday was and counted down until then to rape then the day before. With the evidence we got, the rape times ranged in between thirty minutes to two hours before midnight. The sick bastard would then kill them by slitting their throats ear to ear. One lucky one that got away before he could kill them gave a good description of the man since he didn't wear a mask.

That was a mistake on his part. He was too cocky in his escapes he thought the victims would be dead before they could tell the police. He raped a total of twenty women before one finally got away. That woman, a Bree Tanner, was strong enough to get away, but not without some injuries.

Her eighteenth birthday was coming up and she didn't think much of the rapist on the loose. She was walking home from her job when he came up to her and grabbed her. It was now known that he had two accomplishes. She heard their voices as she was being bound and gagged. One of them was a woman and the other a man, but she never saw their faces just the rapist's.

Bree was very cooperative with the police. In most cases rape victims get emotional or want to distance themselves from their attack. It takes time for them to understand what happened and they may go into a sense of denial. Bree was wary at first, but she gave us enough information from her statement and from the rape kit to trace it back to a man called James Masterson.

We were building a case and Bree agreed to testify against him. We traced to where he worked and found out he now had an occupation at a car garage on the outskirts of Seattle. Some of the police in Seattle wanted us to help them out in capturing him. James tried to run, but we had all exits locked.

Once we had him in custody and Bree identified him in a line up, we took in him for interrogation. A Seattle deputy and I questioned him and in a time span of twenty minutes, he confessed. At first, he carried himself like he was above the law that we had nothing to touch him. We showed him the evidence, he didn't flinch. We accused him of the crime, he held a mask of indifference, but once the detective said life without parole, he broke. He even confessed who his accomplishes were.

He made a mistake again though. We never made a deal with him. I could still see him scream at the both us swearing that he would get us back.

I was finishing some paperwork on the case and I groaned as I looked at the time. I didn't have any time to pick Bella up from the airport and I needed to finish this today. Taking out my phone, I called Seth from the rez and waited a few minutes until he picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Seth, could you pick up Bella from the airport. I'm caught up at work and I don't want her waiting there until midnight."

"You mean you don't want mom to go all mama bear on you."

"That too, so can you?"

"Sure, are you going to be able to make it to the party?" I pondered on it and looked at the stacks of papers in front of me. I sighed at the prolonged time I had to take before I had to see my daughter.

"I don't think so, Seth. Tell Sue I'll make it up to her later."

"A little too much info don't you think, Charlie?" I blushed at his statement and grumbled at the youth these days.

"Don't sass me, boy."

I heard a laugh before the line went dead.

I looked at the picture of Bella sitting on my desk from when she was twelve and sat back and stared at it for a good while. It had been too long since I had a good month spend with her. She came to visit during school holidays, but she had other people she needed to see and spend time with. It wasn't that I didn't like sharing her. It was just that we never got to spend a lot of time together. I knew something was wrong the time she was living with me. It took her a while to get back into the bright smile when she came home from school. I talked with the principal to see if there was any sign of her not understanding a subject or getting bullied. There was nothing he could tell me on her subjects. She was on top of everything and handling deadlines well according to her teachers.

He didn't speak much of her getting bullied, but I noticed he never met my eyes when the subject was brought up. Rookie mistake. I tried to get something out of Bella, but she didn't have anything to say either. She became distance whenever school was brought up and refused to go to school functions. The final straw for me was when I saw the bruises on her arms and legs one day. I got her checked out to the hospital and demanded she tell me who the hell was doing this to her. I couldn't get anything once again, so I asked Sue if she could help.

It took two hours before we got a clear name from her: The Cullens and their little posse. I was close to marching down to the school and telling the principal off for not telling me. He was supposed to protect the kids that went through this not the people that were causing it! Even then I couldn't blame it entirely on him. The Cullens gave a large amount of money to the school and have been for the last seventeen years. No matter how much you can say it's wrong or how much you can say it isn't true, money equaled power even in small towns like this. I didn't have to do much in the end. Sue took care of everything and made sure that Bella didn't have any contact with them in any way. Sue was shocked that Leah had taken part in it.

News spread fast naturally in small towns and the parents were outraged that their children were being accused of taking part of it and the "atrocity" of the situation. They wanted to hold a meeting with the principal and Bella present to see the evidence against their kids. I wasn't going to do that to Bella and put her through that. I declined the offer of a peaceful negotiation as the principal put it between Bella and the kids.

The bullying continued with the help of the others peers to help find Bella, but it decreased greatly. A few weeks later Bella was on her way to Phoenix to live with her mother. I shook the memory out of my head and checked the clock. I finished the paperwork a little while ago, so I had some time to spare. My cell phone rang and flashed Sue. I smiled slightly before answering.

"Hey, Sue."

"Hello, Mr. Swan." I smiled a little wider and ran a hand through my hair.

"How's the party?"

"That's actually why I called you." I furrowed my eyebrows. What could have possibly gone wrong?

"What is it?"

"They came, Charlie." My blood ran cold, before boiling in my skin. I could easily tell who they were. Who was the damn idiot that told them about it? There wasn't a soul who didn't know what happened between Bella and them! I took a deep breath before answering Sue.

"Are they still there?" Because I swear on my mother's grave, that I will come over there and personally escort them out. They shouldn't even have the privilege to breathe the same air as her.

"They just left, but Charlie you should have seen the way Bella handled it! She was so mature about it and didn't lash out or anything. God, you would've been so proud of her." I already was.

"Are you sure she's ok?"

"Yeah, Seth just took her to the house . . . are you going to be ok?" I sighed a little.

"Sure, I just don't want her to be reminded of it every time she thinks of Forks. I want her to think it's her home, not where she was tormented."

"Me neither, Charlie," she sighed, "So, what are we going to do about it?"

My eyes hardened as I thought of the people that drove my little girl out. She was just a kid for Christ's sake! She was nearly an adult now I'm not going to dismay that thought, but those types of scars run deep and I didn't want her to look around corners in case of running into them.

She didn't deserve it then and she doesn't deserve it now.

I made a snap decision and let my mind go on my own accord. I told Sue I would call her later and spoke out to my deputy that I would be back in a few making the excuse of going to the diner to pick up dinner and asked if he wanted anything. He shouted me what he wanted as I walked out the door.

It was close to midnight as I began to drive down the gravel road to the only houses this far out from Forks. I pulled up to the biggest house as I saw it was the only house with the lights still on.

I got out of my car and made my way to towards the house.

**Esme's POV**

I climbed into the passenger seat of the car and turned towards the house we were leaving. Alice had said Edward was going to get his coat and I couldn't help be a little worried. In that house were people that wouldn't give a care in the world if we disappeared from sight. I didn't blame them one bit.

Edward came out a few minutes later with a frustrated look on his face, but said nothing as he came into the car. I sighed and grabbed Carlisle's hand to give me strength. He turned to me and tried to give me a smile, but it came out as a grimace. Looking into my lap, I remembered the older more mature face of the girl we haven't seen in four years.

Isabella Swan was a kind girl if memory served right. I remembered the times Carlisle came home talking about the Swan girl getting into another accident or tripping while walking to his office. It unnerved us that she got all those injuries. When we would ask the children if they knew her, they would say the same thing, "Yeah, she's a little clumsy."

At that point, we chalked it up as being uncoordinated, but more and more Carlisle saw here come to the hospital for broken ankles or a dislocated shoulder and the more she came in the worst the situation got. Imagine our surprises when we got from the principal saying that our children were bullying Isabella Swan.

We were downright outraged at the accusation. If anything Isabella Swan was bullying OUR kids. Alice came home one day crying because Isabella stole something from her and no one would believe it. Even Edward and Alice's friends were complaining about how she was mean to them and make fun of everything and anything they did. Then we found out that the rest of their friends' parents got the same accusation on their kids too. We all came together and said we wanted to talk to the principal with Isabella present. Her father wouldn't allow it saying that Bella suffered through enough. The only good thing that came out of it were our kids and Isabella being separated.

Then one day when I was getting dinner ready before Carlisle got home, he called the house. Isabella was in the hospital in the intensive unit and she was blamed Alice and her group of friends for it. I rushed over there right away to see the officer coming out of her room.

I confronted him and told him about all the horrible things Bella has done to my kids from mocking them to them coming home crying. He said he'd take what I said into consideration, but that wasn't enough for me. I made sure that the police knew my kids could have been at La Push. Alice, Rose, and Tanya were at ballet practice from eleven until six that day, Edward was in Seattle for his piano lessons, and Emmett and Jasper were at a birthday party in La Push, but that was far from where the scene happened.

We were worried that with Isabella's relative on the case, facts would have twisted up, but they didn't allow him to get into it. Nevertheless, they thought this would be charges for the kids and we were all appalled.

A few weeks later, the charges were dropped. We were happy, but suspicious as well. What could have made them drop all the charges? Alice came home saying she didn't see Bella at school and no one else did either. Later in the weeks, we found out from one of Alice's friends, Leah that she moved to Arizona. I was glad to say in the least. Now we could get back into our regular pattern of things and we wouldn't have her as a nuisance anymore.

I swallowed the lump in my throat at my naïve nature that I thought my kids could do no wrong, that they were perfect. One winter afternoon was the cold water in the face.

Alice, Rose, Leah, and Tanya were all in Alice's room where I went to give them hot chocolate. This was two weeks after the incident which they were talking about.

"God, I'm so glad we got No Man Swan outta here!" That was Alice's voice. I put the drinks on the floor and leaned in a little more to hear what they were saying. They were laughing at something Tanya said.

"I can't believe that we got away with it though! You would think I'd feel sorry for her, but if she just kept her damn mouth shut . . ." There were murmurs of agreements in the room.

"I mean honestly! Our parents would have never believed that their 'perfect children would every do such a thing.'"

"If we got away with messing with her, what makes her think we can't get away with this?"

"I can think of a couple." That's when I stepped in. The girls were frozen for a few minutes before Alice found her voice.

"Mom," she paused for a minute, "how long were you there?"

"Long enough to know what the fuck was going on," Alice winced and looked at the floor. Tanya recoiled like she had been smacked.

"Are you going to tell our parents?" By that time, I had to get out of the room and sent the girls home telling each mother in person what they did and made them tell what they did. I couldn't believe them. I couldn't believe what they did and once Carlisle came home, I was on the couch crying. For what my daughter did, for tricking me, or for that little girl who not once cried wolf, I didn't know, but Carlisle took more action, then I did.

He took away Alice's privileges, the shopping sprees, the random trips to Italy, everything. The most surprising thing was she didn't throw a tantrum. I'm guessing the point where Carlisle refused to look at except for a glance was real a wake-up call that she couldn't get out of this one. He also made her tell him who else was involved and she confessed that everyone except Edward was in on it. We also found out that they were bullying Isabella instead the other way around.

The ultimate breaking point was when we found out that Jasper was going to be sent to military school. Jasper came from a strict no nonsense family and we knew they wouldn't take this lightly. Alice screamed and screamed at Jasper's parents begging him to stay saying it was all her fault that he just followed. Their mind was made up.

He stayed there for two years before coming back a year ago. Alice and he weren't the only ones who suffered from this. Emmett was banned from trying out for sports in high school, but they decided to change it this year since he was getting closer to college, but he was allowed one sport, no before or after parties, and straight home after practice. Emmett didn't step a toe out of line since then.

Tanya's parents thought about leaving Forks and homeschooling her. She gave the same reaction as Alice did when Jasper was leaving. Rose had to deal with her mother's wrath and she can't face them being in the same room for a long period of time. I didn't exactly know what happened with Jacob and Leah, but they spend more and more time over our house more than anything else.

One question I never asked was why. Why did they specifically target Isabella? What terrible thing did she do besides tell her parents what they should know?

I snapped out of my ponderings as we reached the house. The other cars behind us came, parked in our driveway, but didn't get out. I knew they were waiting for permission to come into the house. Seeing Bella must have brought back memories of bans and restrictions that were in still in place, but now they didn't hold as much of a threat.

The four families lived in a makeshift cul-de-sac where each house was close to one another. We were all college friends, and we wanted our kids to grow up together. Their parents looked out their windows wondering why the kids weren't coming into the houses.

I didn't meet anyone's eye. As bad as I felt, the others felt like they failed their kids and as a collective group we were miserable for the first three months after their confessions. Isabella coming back would definitely resurface those feelings.

"Mom, Dad," Alice hesitated, "can the others come in?" I looked over at Carlisle to see how he felt about it. He sighed dejectedly and nodded a yes. I winced at his soulless eyes. As every other parent, he felt as though he had a part in the scheme, but a larger part. He convinced the police officer that Bella's injuries were minor when they were worse then he played off.

Alice and Edward came out of the car and went over to the cars in the driveway as we got out the car and headed towards the house. The rest came in, but kept a wide stance from us.

"Stay in the living room and don't go upstairs." I said to them. They all nodded and filed into the family room. Carlisle was making a cup of tea in the kitchen and placed it front of me. I placed my head into my hands after thanking him and taking a sip. He sat in front of me as we tried to figure out how to handle the situation. We stayed silent until the door bell rang and looked at each other confusingly.

"Who could that be at this hour?" I said as I made my way to the door to answer. We were surprised to see the other parents of our kids' friends at our door front.

"Esme, what's wrong? Did something happen at the party?" Meredith, Rosalie and Jasper's mother, asked with concern. I glanced at Carlisle not answering the question and invited them into the house. We all gathered around the kitchen table with some of the parents checking in the living room to see if their child was ok. The Hales parents sat the at the kitchen island holding hands with questioning eyes. Mr. McCarthy leaned against the kitchen counter closest to the fridge with his wife sitting at the island with the Hales.

Mr. McCarthy eyed us suspiciously as Mrs. McCarthy shifted her eyes from him to us nervously. Mrs. Denali sat at the island next to me holding my hand staring at me intently. Mr. Denali was next to Mr. McCarthy, but he was looking at his wife with cautious. The McCarthy's were Emmett's parents, the Denali's were Tanya's, and the Hales were Jasper's and Rosalie's parents.

The last time we had a meeting like this because of the same person. I sighed drawing attention to myself with it. Why not just tell it like it's a bandage? The wound will be reopened anyways.

"Esme, what's wrong? What happened at the party?" How were they going to take it? I looked solemnly at the people in front of me.

"Isabella Swan is back in Forks. The party was to celebrate her return." I heard a dramatic gasp from Meredith, and kept from rolling my eyes to the woman. Rosalie didn't learn to be a drama queen from anywhere.

"Now? After all this time?" Christina, Emmett's mother, said exasperated. She wrung her hands at the thought of the child coming back. Her coming did resurface some old memories not one of them good. Eleazar, Tanya's father, opened and closed his mouth on how to handle this situation. We could just tell the kids to not do anything to make her feel uncomfortable and tell them the repercussions of doing so. We could get the school to keep an eye on them and tell us anything even if an accidental shove was interacted, but still there was the matter of getting a real feed from the school.

Mrs. Cope, a secretary at the middle school, confessed to helping the kids getting out of bullying Bella and the principal was terrified that we would stop donating all the money we do to the school if they said one thing bad about our kids. It kills me to say that at the time we probably would have. We had that cliché mentality that if we gave our kids everything they wanted, then they would be happy and return the favor by being good golden children. I snorted mentally. That changed quickly.

I couldn't help, but thank Isabella. Indirectly, she saved my kids. If we didn't know about the crap we let our kids get away with then they would get murdered on their own.

"Well what are we going to do about?" Thinking about it now I honestly didn't know, but before I could voice my opinion, the doorbell rang. I looked at the time on stove and huffed. Who on earth would come over at two in morning?

"I got it mom!" Alice said opening the door. I didn't hear her greeting or say anything which was odd considering Alice was never the type to keep quiet. I came from the kitchen to see who was at the door and my body froze in shock.

"Hello Ms. Cullen."


End file.
